Poetry in the Glass at Mesa Del Sol

15 questions with a couple who took the vineyard plunge 

Gary Lyons and Stacey Schrader Lyons kindly made a little time to chat with us by video as they were ramping up for harvest. The couple took over Mesa Del Sol six years ago. Their vineyard sits deep in Steinbeck country, at the western edge of the Arroyo Seco AVA – one of California's earliest official appellations. They have 14 acres, with just 7.5 under vine, on lean, rocky soils at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains, where the Ventana Wilderness descends into the Salinas Valley.

The Lyons didn't buy the place with a clear ambition… so much as fall helplessly in love with it. We talk about the property’s lore, what’s surprised them about becoming vintners, the vineyard’s flavor signatures, and what shows they’re watching (why not – it turns out they’re farming and wine-related!). 

Mesa Del Sol’s small-production, 92-point 2021 Prima Rosso – a gracefully rich blend of Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Grenache – is featured in our Premier club, and we encourage you to get a few more bottles while we still have some. It’s a terrific Thanksgiving wine.

Enjoy Gary and Stacey…

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How did you find the property?

Stacey: We used to pass by this property on our way down to Southern California from our home. We have a horse ranch in Carmel, and we always wondered about it. Then we just happened to see there was this listing that came up right before Christmas in 2020, and I sent it to Gary: “Hey, this looks really cute and it's kind of by that water tower that we see all the time.” It’s very iconic, it’s on the property next to ours. “Let's go check it out.” 

Gary: In the back of our minds… My daughter is in the wine business. She was in New Zealand, now she's in Australia. Graduated from St. Andrews, met a Scotsman, and so now they're down under. And I thought, maybe if we buy a vineyard, she'll come back and run it. And she said no! So then Stacy said, “How hard can it be? We'll run it." 

Stacey: That was the famous last line. 

Gary: Now we know.

Stacey: They're so happy in Australia. It was funny… At the wedding, Gary told the story, and a lot of winemakers were at the wedding and they're like: “I'll take the vineyard!”

You have a well-appointed guest house people can rent. When you bought Mesa Del Sol, was your primary impulse more toward hospitality, or getting involved with grapegrowing and winemaking?

Stacey: I'm laughing, because I don't think we thought that deeply about the purchase in that way. We had this wonderful thought that we really enjoy wine – we both have been drinking wine for a long time – and wouldn't it be great to own this vineyard and make it a family thing? The property is certainly suitable for family reunions and weddings – people rent it out for those types of things. But it was really about furthering the vision of the prior owner on this beautiful spot. I think we fell in love with the property – more than having a reason to buy it. It just really spoke to both of us. 

It is an iconic, historical site. It goes back to the late 1800s, when it was a stagecoach stop. The oldest building on the property is called the Stone House, and it was along the mission trails where they would turn out horses at this stone house. The property has been owned by various people through the years. One was a senator. One created a wellness center in the 1900s, and rumor has it through the old folk in town that Theodore Roosevelt stayed on the property because he had respiratory illnesses. Large families have lived here, and the farmhouse grew, and a big pool was built, and cabanas.

The Cowboy House was probably built in the 1920s. Some of the original furnishings were left there. For weddings, a lot of the groomsmen stay there; it’s decked out very Gene Autry-esque.

So it's a fun property, and there is an ethereal beauty about it. It overlooks the river, and the sun casts this incredible pink glow against the canyon walls. 

Gary: Drinking wine at the stone wall overlooking the river, we said “We’ve got to buy this place.” The grapes were an important part of it, but it wasn't the only reason, and we thought seven and a half acres was manageable. The quality of the grapes is outstanding.

How far inland are you, and what’s the nearest town?

Stacey: We are off the beaten trail. It's a good hour and a half drive east to Carmel by the Sea – a very popular tourist destination. There is wine tasting in Carmel Valley, which is 45 minutes from us. You go along Carmel Valley Road and there's one stop sign in 40 miles. It is the most beautiful, scenic, winding country road. That's why we used to take it down to Southern California – because it is so beautiful. And then you get to the beginning of the Arroyo Seco AVA. It starts at the stop sign – we're 200 yards from the stop sign, and we're one of the first vineyards.

Gary: The cool thing about the property is we’re an hour and a half away from the ocean, but we're right in the Salinas Valley. 

Stacey: That's really important – I’m glad you brought that up. The Salinas Valley is of course so fertile for all types of agriculture. In the morning, the fog comes in from the coast – it blows in all that distance! We're in a canyon, so you'd think that it would come from the west, but it doesn't. It moves in from the east, and that's what cools down the vines at night. We are in a relatively dry climate out in Arroyo Seco. That’s why it’s so wonderful for growing grapes. 

Gary: The temperatures can be 100 by day and 50 at night. So that puts a lot of stress on the vines, and the grapes love that.

When were your oldest vines planted?

Stacey: The former owners of Mesa Del Sol, Ann and Jake Hougham, purchased the property in 1998 and planted between 1998 and 1999. 

Gary: They're in their prime right now and looking really good. The soil and minerality we have – because we're in the Arroyo Seco riverbed – there's a lot of stone, called…

Stacey: …the Arroyo Seco potato! Because the rocks look like potatoes. When the prior owner planted the vines, they pulled out so many potatoes, and built stone walls around the property.

Gary: These vines are 25 years old or so, and the roots go down about 30 feet. So they sneak around all of the rocks. I think that's what makes the wine so special; it picks up minerality from the stone beneath it, and it’s really flavorful. 

We grafted five rows of Zinfandel over to Cab, which will be a little over a ton. We’ll be harvesting it this week. Our biggest harvest is Syrah, which we’ll pick later.

Where did you grow up, and did your families drink wine?

Gary: Boston – and not really. More beer.

Stacey: I grew up in Southern California, Palos Verdes Estates, and my parents really were not wine drinkers until I was already out of the house. I learned from people who were knowledgeable about wine when I was probably 21. Certainly we've become more knowledgeable in terms of our palates, and what we like, now that we own a winery and are paying attention and have become more educated. Every time we meet someone, I learn something new. And every country we go to, we've gone on some amazing wine tours and met amazing winemakers. And it's a learning curve. But I think that that's what the beauty of the business is. You're always learning.

What is your current favorite attribute in a wine?

Stacey: I think there's poetry in describing what a wine tastes like. And Gary’s daughter is exceptional at being a poet when she is doing a tasting. I am not that person. So what do I look for in a wine? For what I'm drinking right now, I like a dry French-style wine. A Sancerre is one of my favorites. And I would love to go to Bordeaux. I do love red Bordeaux-style blends. I guess it's not so much a fruit-forward thing as sort of a holding back… there's a little restraint in it.

Gary: From my point of view, here in Carmel Valley, it's really Pinot Noir dominated – started by Gary Pisoni. We have some spectacular Pinot Noir. So that kind of turned me away from the wines I used to drink, Cabs etc. from Napa. But after a while, I think we got Pinot Noir-ed out. One of our favorite wines is our Mesa Del Sol Sangiovese, which is really special and not as common to find – it has really wonderful character. And that's in our Prima Rosso blend that will be in your wine club. It’s Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Grenache.

Stacey: That 2021 was made by Ian Brand, who was named Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle a while ago.

Have there been any stylistic evolutions with your new winemaker, Tyler Russell? 

Gary: We're harvesting a little later, more hang time, so it’s a bigger, bolder wine. I think he's very creative in making his wines. He doesn't do it all the same way every time. Tyler will do four or five executions of different blends, we'll go and taste and select from that. And I think it just has exceptional character. He’s very well known in Paso Robles. 

Stacey: I think he would describe himself as Rhône style. I loved what he did with our Grenache. 

Do you still have friends help you pick the grapes, or do you go fully with a professional crew now?

Gary: Half and half. Friends all want to experience it. They'll come and we'll have a little dinner party before, then wake up at 7. Together with the laborers we'll pick five tons a day.

What’s something you’ve learned, or that’s surprised you, about the grape growing or winemaking process?

Gary: They told us when we bought this place, it's all about the soil. So we put a lot of time into the cover crop – we have a secret blend of eight or nine different legumes and peas – and other things to put nutrients like nitrogen back in, other techniques to keep the grass growing. We let it go to seed, and then when the workers need to get in there to start doing more pruning, we'll cut it back. But I think it's always good to keep something there, because it keeps the moisture in, keeps the bugs in. We use organic practices and we're sustainable.

Stacey: I think initially I was astounded at the cost of supplies like cork and glass and labels and capsules. I thought: Whoa, it’s expensive to bottle wine. There's more to it than just growing the grapes and harvesting the grapes, sending it to the wine maker. You get into the cooperages – the barrels – “Is it going to be French oak?” All the different aspects of what it takes to get to bottle was a lot, and it was a learning curve.

Gary: The thing that wasn’t a surprise was the investment in the infrastructure here. There was a lot of deferred maintenance and we’ve replaced 1,000 ft of well pipe from down by the river to here. We put in holding tanks, backup generators. 

How much wine do you produce per year?

Gary: About 400 cases.

What are the main natural landmarks near you?

Gary: There’s really a great camping place above five miles down the road. And you hike what's called the gorge, which is a trail up above the river, and then it dips down so you can go in the river. 

Stacey: That's Los Padres National Forest. It is a really cool place to go. Floating along the river is really popular. Arroyo Seco means “dry river,” and so during the summer months, the river is hardly running. There are different times for rafting. 

Gary: And then there’s Pinnacles National Monument a half an hour away.

What are your favorite plants on the property?

Stacey: There’s beautiful foliage on the property, and I think the most iconic is the 300-year-old oak tree that's on our main lawn, and it's where all brides want to get married. It just sits there majestic and beautiful and strong, and I love it because I think how it must have seen so many things through the years on the property with all the history. 

Gary: I walk the property every day and it's like the Garden of Eden, the amount of fruit that we have from apples to nectarines to pomegranates to citrus.

Stacey: Gary also plants an organic garden every season. 

Gary: So renters tap into the tomatoes and squash and whatever else they want. 

Stacey: We have eight chickens, so we have an abundance of eggs. If we had met in person, I would have given you a dozen eggs.

Do you still have other careers?

Gary: I'm a retired biotech CEO, and I do three boards. Keeps me in the game and keeps my interest.

Stacey: I’m a retired attorney and realtor. The latter part of my law practice, I did construction defect litigation. After I raised and launched my boys, I decided to do something a little more fun. I was selling real estate in Carmel and Pebble Beach, and it took off really fast for me. It was a much more social environment. 

Gary: When I retired, I told people, I'm going to buy a tractor and I'm going to move dirt from here… and put it over there. “Then what are you going to do?” Then I'm gonna move it back. I do farming at the vineyard, I drive the tractors. 

Stacey: I would say my greatest joy is seeing Gary's greatest joy on that tractor. He has built an incredible biotech company – Neurocrine Biosciences – from the ground up, and has done incredibly well. I know he worked so incredibly hard for that, and it's so nice now to see this part of his life where he's on this tractor and just has a big smile on his face. People will call me, "Hey, is Gary home?" I go, "No, he's moving dirt.”

Gary: This time next week, we'll be moving grapes.

Do you taste a throughline in your wines?

Gary: The minerality in it is very special. And raspberry often comes through. 

Stacey: Sometimes I hear from our wine club members, “I taste olives.” We have olive trees on the property and we make our own olive oil. (We don’t sell the oil because we only have 15 trees… I think we get two gallons.) Pomegranate comes through, persimmon, and there's a chocolate resonance.

Gary: Our wines aren’t over-tannined, which is nice, and allows you to see more through the fruit.

What shows are you watching?

Stacey: Clarkson’s Farm is Gary’s favorite show. 

Gary: You must watch it. It's a retired race car driver from England, and he bought a farm and he has a Lamborghini tractor and he's learning how to farm the hard way. 

Stacey: It's a reality series. One of our other favorite series is Drops of God. 

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.